New memory types and approaches are being developed and tested as DRAM and Moore's Law both run out of steam, adding greatly to the confusion of what comes next and how that will affect chip designs.
What fits where in the memory hierarchy is becoming less clear as the semiconductor industry grapples with these changes. New architectures, such as [getkc id="202" kc_name="fan-outs"] and [getk... » read more

The DRAM business has always been challenging. Over the years, DRAM suppliers have experienced a number of boom and bust cycles in a competitive landscape. But now, the industry faces a cloudy, if not an uncertain, future.
On one front, for example, [getkc id="93" kc_name="DRAM"] vendors face a downturn amid a capacity glut and falling product prices in 2016.
But despite the business chal... » read more

Semiconductor Engineering sat down to talk about planar DRAMs, 3D DRAMs, scaling and systems design with Charles Slayman, technical leader of engineering at network equipment giant Cisco Systems. What follows are excerpts of that conversation.
SE: What types of DRAM do network equipment OEMs look at or buy these days?
Slayman: When we look at DRAM, we look at it for networking applicatio... » read more

DDR4 rollouts have begun. And in the DRAM world that begs the question, 'What comes next?'
The answer isn't so obvious. While there have been suggestions inside of JEDEC — the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, which has overseen the standards for double-data-rate synchronous DRAM — to develop a DDR5 standard, it's not the only solution being considered. And in the minds of some... » read more

In part 1 of this roundtable, the participants talked about the investments being made in memory technologies, the role that memories play in system security and the tools support for optimizing memory architecture. Taking part in the conversation are Herbert Gebhart vice president of interface and system solutions in the Memory and Interfaces Division of Rambus, Bernard Murphy, chief technolog... » read more